Zeroing In On Counterfeit COVID-19 Products

"Counterfeit goods sold during the corona crisis do not meet the required quality standards and pose a real threat to public health and safety."
"People who buy these fake products have a false sense of security, while they are, in fact, left unprotected."
Catherine De Bolle, executive director, Europol

"Should goods be determined to be inadmissible, they may be ordered to be removed from Canada or seized by Health Canada."
"Health Canada is responsible for any additional enforcement activities under their legislation, such as laying charges."
Rebecca Purdy, spokeswoman, Canada Border Services Agency

"We are taking urgent measures to protect consumers from illegal, false or misleading advertising of products claiming to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure COVID-19."
Health Canada

"The threat from counterfeit products related to COVID-19, especially those aimed at the health-care sector, emerged quickly and created a notable impact."
"The estimated profits from the trade of these goods are assessed to be substantial."
"The counterfeiting of pharmaceutical products has been one of the most insidious forms of profiteering during a global pandemic. Counterfeiters have seized the opportunity to exploit the demand for drugs offering potential as treatment options in fighting COVID-19 infections."
"Particular attention should be paid to developments and criminal innovation if a genuine vaccine for COVID-19 is developed as this will likely prompt a wave of offers for counterfeit vaccines."
Europol (law enforcement agency of the European Union) report

Interpol said 121 arrests were made over the seizure of counterfeit COVID-19 medical supplies and medications. (Interpol)

European police have discovered, on a popular Canadian dark web market called CanadaHQ, that chloroquine is advertised for sale. This is the anti-malarial drug touted by many, including U.S. President Donald Trump as a "game-changer" protection against acquiring the novel coronavirus and for 'curing' it. It has also been found -- predictably enough, since both countries have long been a source on the global market of counterfeit pharmaceuticals -- that most of the counterfeit drugs emanate from China and India which frequently make use of Turkey and Ukraine as transit countries.

Fake COVID-19 test kits have been seized at a U.S. airport, just as suspected counterfeit medical masks were stopped at the Canadian border. Masks, face shields, safety glasses and disinfectants, along with promised 'treatments' for COVID are sold in Canada as they are elsewhere, from online retailers, even those that are housed on Amazon and Facebook. Criminals have found an opportunity opened to them with the arrival of the global pandemic.

eBay seller advertising a Covid-19 serological test

Through a website for an online dental equipment supply company whose address is in Edmonton, surgical masks, N95 masks and medical gloves were being offered. The contact information for the site happened to lead to Shanghai, China. Health Canada issued a warning recently about masks and respirators claimed to be N95-rated, the gold standard for protection from COVID, which were discovered to be substandard fakes.

Border agents with the Canada Border Services Agency recently stopped shipments entering Canada which contained suspected fake personal protective equipment; masks, gloves, gowns and face shields meant to be used solely by front-line medical workers as protection while treating COVID-19 patients. The CBSA referred the shipments to Health Canada for testing to determine whether they could meet Canadian standards.

The problem with counterfeit products and unapproved treatments is particularly profound in Europe, where COVID-19 has succeeded in forging a deep and wide trail of virus cases and subsequent deaths in large numbers. In Italy, police have focused on raiding black-market sanitizer factories. Huge shipments of faulty masks, falsely-labelled protective equipment and bogus treatments and tests have been seized there, in Europe's hardest-hit country, devastated by COVID.

Organized crime is in its element, having pivoted from producing and distributing counterfeit goods such as designer clothing and fake sports jerseys along with high-end running shoes, to take advantage of the profits to be realized by bilking frightened and gullible people out of funds they set aside for personal emergency equipment and hoped-for 'cures' to enable them to protect themselves from the dread virus.

A website claiming the World Health Organization was distributing free COVID-19 vaccine kits was raided in the United States by the FBI, which shut down and seized the advertised products at a time when there are no vaccines yet discovered to protect against SARS-CoV-2. Among the false purveyors of hope for terrorized people was a UV-light system for sale, claiming it to be "suitable" for COVID-19.

"The seizure of more than 34,000 counterfeit and substandard masks, 'corona spray,' 'coronavirus packages' or 'coronavirus medicine' reveals only the tip of the iceberg regarding this new trend in counterfeiting."
"Criminals will stop at nothing to make a profit."
"The illicit trade in such counterfeit medical items during a public health crisis shows their total disregard for people's well-being, or their lives."
Jürgen Stock, Interpol Secretary General